Day 392: Kota Kinabalu - Mt. Kinabalu

Apr 30 - In retrospect, I should have just pushed to leave earlier today. I knew the trip to our next destination would be only one or two hours, and the minivan station is about a five minute walk.

We do find a share taxi soon enough, not a minivan like I wanted. The latter seems to be more frequent earlier in the morning. The total price is MYR 90, down from the initial quote of MYR 35 each.

A housing block district we stop in on the way out of town, to collect some passengers. Each apartment has its own water container.

The route soon winds up into the mountains. This is the first time in Borneo that we’ve achieved some elevation gain. There is plenty of rain. There are a number of mountain peaks around us, some shrouded in clouds. The advantage to being in a share taxi is that I can push to be let out exactly where we want to go. Our hotel is just along the side of the highway, close to Mount Kinabalu Park entrance.

Today’s route: (A) Kota Kinabalu, (B) Mt. Kinabalu Park.

View from our hotel, which would more accurately be described as a lodge. And the deer are accurately described as fake.

Walk the five minutes along the highway to the park itself. The park fee for entry is MYR 50/person.

Mount Kinabalu. It can be hiked, though it is a bit rigorous. Note the profile isn’t really like that on the Sabah flag. The flag profile must be from a different angle, maybe on the opposite side.

Mount Kinabalu is composed of granites that were uplifted during one of the compressive episodes that made Borneo the island it is today. It is the one of the only places during this trip in Borneo I have seen rock that is not part of the Cretaceous sedimentary package.

The desk in the visitor’s center that deals with transport is closed, so I can’t sort out anything for what I want to do tomorrow. Instead, we go on a short hike that is close to the park entrance.

This is our first walk in a montane rainforest, rather than the dipterocarp lowland forests. It is much cooler here, and often enveloped in clouds.

Odette spots a snake! It is a Hebius sarawakcense (Sarawak keelback). Non-venomous.

There entrance buildings for the park are crammed with hikers, it has the feel of a ski lodge with everyone bundled up and ready for cold weather. Walking around is a huge relief, temperature-wise, as the air is cool even when the sun briefly comes out.

After the hike we get a meal at the small restaurant across the road from the park. This is the only place open today in the area. Then back to the lodge we are staying, where we have a great view from our window and the clouds pack in at night.

Malaysia (Sabah)